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Wednesday, April 07, 2010

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Canon Rips It Wide Open Again…

Bruce A Johnson | 04/07

Announces Two New Cameras

Got a press release from Canon USA this morning announcing what seem to be the replacements for the XH-G1 cameras. Two new camcorders, named the XF305 and XF300, will be shown at the NAB convention.

Boasting list prices in the sub-$~~7000~~ 8000 (ooops) range, the XF305 and XF300 push technology forward. First of all, these cameras will record to Compact Flash cards instead of HDV tape, and will record in a 4:2:2 50Mb Canon codec, which will apparently be supported by Adobe, Apple, Avid, and Grass Valley in short order. Also, the release talks of…

“Refined Ergonomics and Operation

The Canon XF305 and XF300 are designed to maximize shooting comfort and usability. The well-balanced design allows the operator to comfortably control the camcorder and easily maintain a steady shot while minimizing arm fatigue.”

As you can see in the photos, the body style seems barely changed from the XH-G1, but perhaps I’ll get a chance to handle one at Canon’s NAB booth.

Much has been speculated lately about Canon coming out with a video camera with the chip of the DSLR Canon D5 mk2, but this doesn’t appear to be that - the XF305 and XF300 are said to use the 1/3” DIGIC 3 chipset, whereas the D5 mk2 uses the DIGIC 4. Whether this makes a huge difference visibly will remain to be seen. (Personally, I’m a big fan of Canon’s 30F mode - all the “filmy” goodness of 24P with way less motion artifacting.)

The main difference between the XF305 and XF300 is the inclusion of what Canon used to call the “JackPack” - four BNC connectors that provide HD-SDI output, genlock capability, timecode in and out, and SD video in/out.

This is exciting news from Canon. I can’t wait to see these cameras in their booth!